The college football season is over for fans of the cardinal and white, but they shouldn’t be hanging their heads. Ball State finished the 2019 season at 5-7 — the best record it has finished with in the Mike Neu era. To go along with wrapping up the season, here are some of the Cardinals’ top aspects of the year.
The Cardinals were in the locker room, facing a 27-14 deficit to Mid-American Conference East Division Champion Miami (Ohio). When they ran back onto the field, a switch had been flipped. The Cardinals went on to score 27 unanswered points and only allow one first down in the second half, leading to a 41-27 victory.
In the loss that made it officially ineligible for the postseason, Ball State struggled the entire game on defense, but particularly in the second half in the loss to Kent State. The Cardinals had several opportunities to capitalize on offense but were unable to when it mattered most. Here are four takeaways from the Cardinals’ 41-38 loss to the Golden Flashes.
The game clock read six seconds. The score read 41-38 in favor of Kent State. After those six seconds, Ball State had fallen to the Golden Flashes and lost its chances of going to a bowl game.
It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, even after the Chippewas converted the following fourth-and-9 and subsequently scored a touchdown to reduce the Cardinals’ lead to 10. It did, however, when Central Michigan went on to win the game by one point.
Each question was followed by laughter because they knew they couldn’t go into detail. They even apologized for not being able to answer in full. But they couldn’t give anything away because their job is one of the most important jobs on game day.
Despite the Chippewas sneaking away with the one-point win, Ball State firmly had control for the majority of the game. The evening started out slow with six total points scored in the first quarter. Then, an offensive explosion ensued for the last 45 minutes.
Ball State players walked away from their contest with Central Michigan with heads hung low following a 45-44 defeat. The Cardinals had a 17-point lead three different times throughout the game and led for almost the entirety of the night.
With Ball State just two wins away from bowl eligibility and temperatures in Muncie nearing single digits this week at practice, redshirt junior quarterback Drew Plitt has the Bahamas on his mind. As good as it feels to have the team’s first bowl birth since 2013 in sight, Plitt said, players’ eyes can’t get too wide.
Ball State (4-5, 3-2 MAC), could not stop the offense of Western Michigan (6-4, 4-2 MAC) when it counted. The Cardinals were unable to complete a second half comeback and ultimately fell to the Broncos, 35-31. Here are a few takeaways.
If you showed up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to watch the two highest-scoring offenses in the Mid-American Conference go at it, you got your money’s worth. Tuesday, it was the Broncos (6-4, 4-2 MAC) who got the best of the Cardinals (4-5, 3-2 MAC), 35-31.
In Ball State’s season opener against Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium, sophomore A.J. Uzodinma and junior Antonio Phillips came away with the team’s first two interceptions of the year. Eight weeks later, the Cardinals’ starting cornerbacks are in a battle for the top spot on the Mid-American Conference’s interception list.
Temperatures were in the 50s, the wind was blowing and it rained all game long. But if you ask Ball State head coach Mike Neu, none of that determined the outcome of the Cardinals’ (4-4, 3-1 MAC) 34-21 loss to Ohio (4-4, 3-1 MAC) Saturday.
The Cardinals have enjoyed their winning ways since the start of the Mid-American Conference season. Senior night a year ago, senior defensive tackle Chris Crumb said, was the turning point for Ball State Football.
Wendell Brown, a Ball State Football linebacker from 2004-07, was coaching abroad when he was imprisoned in China in September 2016 after his involvement in a bar fight during a party, which he said was in self defense. One month ago, he returned home.
Thanks to 580 yards of offense and seven touchdowns, Ball State (4-3, 3-0 MAC) broke its drought of five consecutive losses in Homecoming games in front of 15,113 strong Saturday in a 52-14 win over Toledo (4-3, 1-2 MAC).
Ball State is on a “revenge tour.” Essentially, the Cardinals (4-3, 3-0 MAC) are out to beat every team in the Mid-American Conference, and after Saturday’s 52-14 win over Toledo (4-3, 1-2 MAC), they became the lone team undefeated in MAC play.
Several fans bundled up Friday to watch Blackford (5-4) take on Mississinewa (8-1). The Indians got the best of the Bruins, 38-13, but the Bruins held their heads high.
There was a time when you could expect fireworks to go off at Delta High School when Charlie Spegal stepped on the field. He totaled more than 4,300 yards and 50 touchdowns in an Eagle uniform. Spegal was at it again Friday, leading his team to a 49-13 win, eclipsing the 200-yard mark for the 24th time in his career and tying the state scoring record with his three touchdowns. Only this time, there were no fireworks. Even the fans in Delta’s stands were quiet.
Junior running back Caleb Huntley’s last two games have been ones to remember, rushing for more than 150 yards in each, and he has his offensive line of what he describes as the “Berlin Wall” to thank for it.
